Skidmore, National Museum Of Dance, Merce Cunningham Trust Collaborate On Performance

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Dance Department at Skidmore College will partner with the National Museum of Dance and the Merce Cunningham Trust to host a Merce Cunningham “MinEvent”. The collaboration will feature as its final event a lecture/demonstration and program on Sunday, February 16, at Skidmore’s Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery. Andrea Weber is a former Cunningham dancer and currently an MCT authorized stager she will share Merce Cunningham’s technique and repertory with selected dancers in the two-week intensive workshop. The residency will culminate in a program at the Tang Museum titled Skidmore MinEvent: Experiencing the Legacy of Merce Cunningham. The program will feature a short lecture/demonstration, followed by the performance of a 30-minute “MinEvent” at 2 p.m. on February 16. Admission is free and open to the public. Debra Fernandez, professor and chair of Skidmore’s Dance Department, said, “The Skidmore Dance Department is thrilled to finally be hosting a Cunningham residency and excited to collaborate with the National Museum of Dance on this project.” She continued, “We have been talking about this for years and waiting for the right moment. Coincidentally, last summer the National Museum of Dance reached out to us to talk about ways in which we might partner to bring an understanding and awareness of modern dance to this area. Hence, the decision to present the ideas and work of one of the great geniuses of the dance world, Merce Cunningham.”